"Our fans are pretty good. They don't give away too much. Sometimes people love dropping spoilers, but our fans are good. They tend to do it in such a way that doesn't ruin it for fans who don't want to know."--Phil Keoghan

I was thinking that they find their first clue box at the Gulf Harbor and again, we encounter some sort of hours of operation. Phil tells us pretty much that the Maori are at One Tree Hill right?54.3 km – about 1 hour 1 min

Well, can't deny that we hear them say go to Gulf Harbor, so Gulf Harbor it is.

I just think the time is going to be way tight. But maybe "dawn" was used euphemistically and early AM would have done as well.

Re the One Tree Hill thing...

Phil tells us that we are going to an extinct volcano near Auckland and they wanted to tie in the maori element.

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New Zealanders are very proud of their indigenous Maori culture, and we were looking to get something of that in the show. We ended up having the teams search for Maori warriors on an extinct volcano (near Auckland), and it was the most magical morning when they arrived: As the sun was rising, there were these warriors doing the haka (a traditional war dance) with a magnificent rainbow over the top of the hill.

Mt. Wellington is situated in the Mt. Wellington Domain. It is one of Aucklands volcano’s, but not so ‘overcrowded’ with tourists and guided tours.

To reach the top and lookout you have to walk a couple of hundred metres, but your reward is a splendid view over the city and the Hauraki Gulf with the islands. Specially Rangitoto and Waiheke are rather close to Mount Wellington.

So it would be great if one of the GE guys (Chateau, Boingo, Slowhatch) could compare the sightline of the coast to the views from the tops and confirm. I've put several views from each in the thread already...

I think it is One Tree Hill (I think the Christy on the path shot matches the wall), but I am not as good at the GE stuff to be able to say for sure.

edited to add in Mt Wellington

« Last Edit: October 15, 2008, 09:22:46 PM by georgiapeach »

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"Our fans are pretty good. They don't give away too much. Sometimes people love dropping spoilers, but our fans are good. They tend to do it in such a way that doesn't ruin it for fans who don't want to know."--Phil Keoghan

Private/public, I think. I'll keep the crow handy in case I get hungry Sun. night, but I'm going to go ahead and say it's Summerhill Recreational Farm (319 Reid road, about five miles from the Blokart track). More here, photo here.

Private/public, I think. I'll keep the crow handy in case I get hungry Sun. night, but I'm going to go ahead and say it's Summerhill Recreational Farm (319 Reid road, about five miles from the Blokart track). More here, photo here.

Slowhatch!! I think you have it!! Oh my!!

AND they are in GE!! I don't know how to attach a kmz but they are there and it looks just like it!!

Heee....I see sheep!

and that means that the mini mt in the background is Motiti Island...

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"Our fans are pretty good. They don't give away too much. Sometimes people love dropping spoilers, but our fans are good. They tend to do it in such a way that doesn't ruin it for fans who don't want to know."--Phil Keoghan

could one Detour be assemble or do we think they are tied together as one detour?

And they have to do 3 laps...

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"Our fans are pretty good. They don't give away too much. Sometimes people love dropping spoilers, but our fans are good. They tend to do it in such a way that doesn't ruin it for fans who don't want to know."--Phil Keoghan

It's time for some New Zealand driving time and route advice from an expert:

The journey(Gulf Harbour to One Tree Hill) is probably around 35 to 45 minutes depending on traffic. At 5.30am I would tend to favour the lower time.

Route 2 (all the way) is the popular route for long weekend traffic [from Auckland to Tauranga]. That is the way I travel when I have gone down there. (It has been some few years since I have driven down there.)

The former comment leads to a timeline like this:

430am leading teams leave Auckland International Airport515am leading teams arrive in Gulf Harbour525am assume cluebox easy to find 600am leading teams arrive at One Tree Hill(assuming that it is the site of the Maori task that appears to be a Roadblock)700am leading teams depart for Tauranga1000am leading teams arrive in area(an extra half hour inserted for being a Saturday morning with traffic expected in that direction) and choose DETOUR:Kiwi360 kiwi stomping in Te Puke or Blockart cart assembly and 3 laps in Papamoa1130am approximate DETOUR finish time for leading teams1140am leading teams reach pitstop at Summerhill Rec Farms

That scene hits different people in different ways. I don't think Brooke was actually scared, as she laughed in a high-pitched voice. I think she was startled. Maori warriors with all of their markings (like tattoos) on their bodies do look totally fierce, but Halloween was still 6 months away(Halloween is celebrated in New Zealand on Gut Fawkes Day Nov. 5).

Private/public, I think. I'll keep the crow handy in case I get hungry Sun. night, but I'm going to go ahead and say it's Summerhill Recreational Farm (319 Reid road, about five miles from the Blokart track). More here, photo here.

Slowhatch!! I think you have it!! Oh my!!

AND they are in GE!! I don't know how to attach a kmz but they are there and it looks just like it!!

I hope that they do not survive, as I rate them as having have no redeeming qualities or abilities other than being cute. Unfortunately, the probability of a NEL is maybe in the 50% range so they have a good chance of surviving. In addition, "everyone makes the plane from Santiago to Auckland", so they get an even start there. I suspect they do not do well on this leg, but they will statistically have only about a 1/16 chance of being eliminated this leg.

That scene hits different people in different ways. I don't think Brooke was actually scared, as she laughed in a high-pitched voice. I think she was startled. Maori warriors with all of their markings (like tattoos) on their bodies do look totally fierce, but Halloween was still 6 months away(Halloween is celebrated in New Zealand on Gut Fawkes Day Nov. 5).

Halloween is not celebrated on Guy Fawkes day here (NZ) - Guy Fawkes day is about fireworks, not trick-or-treating.

A small minority of the population celebrate halloween on the same day the Americans do, but it is generally viewed as an over-commercialised event which is a reflection of bad American customs.

Can't tell, but that might look more like Mt Eden than One tree Hill..

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"Our fans are pretty good. They don't give away too much. Sometimes people love dropping spoilers, but our fans are good. They tend to do it in such a way that doesn't ruin it for fans who don't want to know."--Phil Keoghan

If it is Mt. Eden, here's a map. But I don't know..."Match the Moko" is best done in daylight (perhaps why production slow-boated the racers over to Gulf Harbor?). But according to this page Eden is a popular spot for tour buses (and city buses 274-275-277 are always zipping by on Mt. Eden rd.). Production would be under some pressure to get it done and get out.